Game animals have a heightened sense of smell, often detecting predators or humans without seeing them. Often this detection is by scent alone. Hunters often employ cover scent to mask their human scent in order to approach the quarry at close range. The hunter's exhaled breath may contain odorous substances from consumed food or smoking materials. The presence of these odorous compounds in the hunter's breath may be less than the odor threshold that human individuals can detect, and thus are not apparent. To the hunter's dismay, these low levels are detectable by game animals, thus putting the hunter at a disadvantage.
Thus, there is a need for a means to prevent a hunter's odorous breath components from escaping to the atmosphere where the odor will warn the quarry of the hunter's presence. The means to accomplish this end must not interfere with the hunter's firing an arrow or bullet at the quarry. Several innovations for eliminating breath odor or preventing the spread of disease pathogens are found in the following patents.
Braunroth, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,851, discloses a face mask with a mass of absorbent material saturated with odor-masking substances. A face mask with odor absorbing molecular sieves is disclosed by Rogozinski in U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,294. Masks having odor-masking, odor-counteracting or anti-bacterial substances are disclosed by Haber et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,307 and by Barnum in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,628. G. White discloses a hunting face mask with a carbon canister to control breath odor in U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,812. M. White, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,105, discloses a hunting mask having activated charcoal (carbon) to absorb breath odors. The carbon is contained in stitched together pockets between two cloth layers. The outer surface may have a camouflage pattern for visual concealment. A single elastic band secures the mask to the head of the wearer. The mask also contains an outer seal such as rubber or plastic to provide a tight seal, plus a one way valve for intake of air. The patent also indicates that the adsorbent may be impregnated in the fabric of the mask to provide the same function.
Thus, there remains an unmet need for a breath odor eliminating mask that fits closely over the nose and mouth of the wearer to absorb odorous breath components. The mask needs to be flexible to conform closely to the contour of any wearer's face, yet allow for unhindered shooting of an arrow from a bow or bullet from a rifle. The mask needs to blend into surrounding foliage or terrain, and to operate completely in silence so as not to alert game animals to the presence of the hunter.